LAa9S MAINE! 

. A ^ COMMISSION^ 

OF" 

EDUCATION 
GAINS 

COlMTRA 
I 



Gains — /^^r Contra 



1905 



State of Maine ^ff(^ f^'^^^'^'^ 
Edttcational Department 



■■^1 



t>5z 






Copies of this pamphlet will be sent on application to W. W. Stetson, 
State Superintendent of Public Schools. 






otD. 



GAINS. 



It is worth while, occasionally, to recount our blessings. One 
does not have to look far, or closely, to discover that improve- 
ment has been made in the schools of Maine through the interest 
manifested and work done by parents, school officials, teachers 
and pupils. The time has arrived when a somewhat detailed 
statement of the facts is justified. 

mone;y. 
Many municipalities, at the last town meeting, voted larger 
sums for the maintenance of schools than were asked for by the 
school committees. This action indicates that the day has 
passed when voters are willing to sustain a motion that the 
amount required by law be raised for schools. It also shows 
they arc intelligently considering two questions : First, the 
needs of the schools and second, the extent to which their 
resources will allow their demands to be met. When these 
questions shall have been discussed and decided in the right 
spirit, the welfare of the school will be assured. 

INTERE^ST AND WORK. 

The evidences of an interest on the part of a majority of our 
people in the improvement of the school are too numerous for 
rehearsal. They come to the department through corres- 
pondence, reports of officials and personal testimonies. T^ere 
is a disposition to look for the best things in the work of the 
teacher and the results achieved. There is much less carping 
because of the enjoyment the faultfinder derives from criticising 
and nagging. There is a willingness to work for and with the 
school. Material is supplied and service rendered to a much 
greater extent than in former years. 



" STANDARD SCHOOI.S. 

The plan for " standard schools " has been so intelligently 
discussed in the newspapers, the women's clubs and by school 
officials as to indicate that its merits are being recognized. It 
has met with a much more favorable reception than was antici- 
pated. A large number of letters have been received approving 
the scheme and expressing a desire to have the schools in which 
the writers are personally interested placed on this list. 

The movement has stimulated an interest in better physical 
surroundings, in simplifying and systematizing the course of 
study, improving methods of instruction and increasing the 
thoroughness of the work done. The indirect benefits derived 
from the outlines have proved that the time is ripe for the 
presentation of the plan proposed and that our people are pre- 
pared to make use of the suggestions therein contained. 

Two states, besides Maine, have adopted and are promulgating 
the " standard school " idea and there is a prospect that it will 
extend throughout the country. 

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE. 

The statement that the School Improvement League has done 
more for the betterment of the schools than any other agency 
during the past quarter of a century has been proven by so many 
instances that its correctness cannot longer be questioned. 

It has rendered its greatest service by calling attention to 
present conditions, the necessity for changes and convincing the 
people concerned that the work must be done by those living in 
the community in which the school is located. Concentrating 
the attention of the entire population of any section upon its 
school interests always results, not only in better schools, but also 
in showing the people that they must decide what shall be done 
and be responsible for its performance. This necessitates the 
devising of plans, the choice of possibilities, taste in selecting 
and judgment in using. These efforts, in turn, result in intel- 
lectual training, moral nurture and aesthetic culture. 

The League has stimulated in the children an intelligent sense 
of personal responsibility and has fostered a pride in the local 
school. It has brought them the inspiration which comes from 
serving others and developed a new conception of civic right- 



eoiisness. It has also given them the joy born of honest tori 
and the ambition nurtured by mastering the task attempted. It 
has enlarged their outlook, corrected their perspective and 
helped them to a better knowledge of themselves, their asso- 
ciates and the varied relations of life. 

A large number of the schools are supplied with libraries, 
furnished through the efforts of teachers and pupils. The work 
done in this field is as extensive as it is commendable. 

TEACHERS. 

Maine has more teachers holding State licenses than any other 
state in the Union. This reveals a spirit of enterprise and 
desire to do better service that are most encouraeino- 

Nearly four-fifths of the teachers attended the county teachers' 
meetings ; a little less than one-third were present at the annual 
session of the State Association; about one-fourth were mem- 
bers of the summer schools and, of the whole number employed, 
nearly one-third are graduates of normal or training schools. 

The number of teachers continued in the same school for the 
past year is much larger than is shown by any previous report, 
the aggregate being 2,584. The total number employed was 
6,658, and of this number 5,682 had previous experience. 

Many of our teachers are reading books on pedagogy and an 
increasing number are showing their interest in a broader cul- 
ture, by the study they are giving to works of standard authors. 
They are learning that to be of service they must have sym- 
pathy for the plodder and wayward, with the genius and unbal- 
anced and that they must be filled with that enthusiasm which 
makes hard things easy and sinks self in the work to which they 
give their lives. 

PUPILS. 
There has been a large increase in the number of pupils 
attending the secondary schools. This change is due to two 
causes : First, the improvement of the work done in the com- 
mon schools and the influence exerted by teachers in stimulating 
the more promising students to attend higher institutions of 
learning and, second, to the law which provides that the towns 
and the State shall pay the tuition of pupils who live in munici- 
palities in which secondary schools of standard grade are not 



maintained. The gain in this particular is so marked as to 
attract general attention and has assisted in making- acceptable 
a law which, at first, was severely criticised. 

This statute is one of the most important that has been enacted 
in half a century and, when fully understood and honestly 
administered, will be of great help in improvng the common 
schools and will be of incalculable benefit to the boys and girls 
in rural communities. 

SCHOOIv OFFlCIAIvS. 

There has been a change for the better in the personnel of the 
school boards. Towns are more careful to elect persons who 
are competent and interested in the work. These officers are 
striving to provide better schools. The executive work is 
largely performed by the superintendent and the legislative 
functions are in charge of the committee. The two are working 
in harmony and, as a result, most of our schools are provided 
with courses of study, greater care is used in the examination, 
certification and employment of teachers and there is a more 
intelligent inspection of the work done. 

CITIZENS. 

It has already been intimated that there is a feeling on the 
part of our people which signifies that, in the near future, towns 
will vote for the maintenance of schools the largest sums con- 
sistent with the local valuations ; that school grounds, buildings 
and furnishings will be the best the local communities can pro- 
vide ; that a high grade of teaching force will be demanded and 
that pupils will be held to a stricter account in matters of attend- 
ance and mastery of studies. 

It is also gratifying to learn that the patrons of the school 
have furnished the funds necessary for the purchase of 35,464 
books for school libraries; that, during the past year, the chil- 
dren and their parents have contributed $7,319 for the improve- 
ment of schoolrooms and yards. These figures tell a story as 
inspiring as it is significant and indicate that local interest in the 
local school is a factor to be counted on. 

ART. 

A majority of the schools have provided their rooms with 
works of art of real merit. The taste exhibited in the selection 
of pictures and statuary is most commendable. It is doubtful 



if our people realize how great has been the revolution in this 
particular. 

The placing of works of art where they may be seen by chil- 
dren is important. Many teachers have taken the next step and 
have assisted the boys and girls in appreciating the beauties and 
teachings of these messages of wisdom. In not a few cases 
they are led to discover somewhat of the simpler technical details 
of a picture as well as to read the thought the artist sought to 
express. The value of this service is recognized -by those only 
who can see things not in sight. 

SCHOOIv WORK. 

Many of our more intelligent teachers are putting more 
emphasis on principles, requiring greater proficiency in pro- 
cesses, omitting not a few of the less important topics and giving 
but limited time to minor details. They are insisting that pupils 
do their own work and master the studies pursued. In addition 
to all these gains they are giving attention to the manners of 
their pupils and are securing a willing observance of conven- 
tional forms. They are also interesting the child in an intelligent 
reading of a few good books, the appreciation of some form of 
nature and are helping him to acquire proficiency in some study 
or activity for which, or in which, he shows an aptitude. The 
so-called " bad boy " and the " mischievous girl " are being 
studied and helped. 

These teachers have, each year, a broader outlook, a saner 
conception of their duties and have acquired a skill in the admin- 
istration of their schools that is worthy of high praise. 

If it were possible to promote the less efficient members of the 
teaching force into this class and advance the best to the next 
higher, long looked for results would be made possible. 

The work done shows what may be accomplished and reveals 
the means necessary to ensure coveted improvements. When 
all hands are joined with those already united, then the good 
day will be near at hand. 

These hopeful signs give promise of a future in which we 
may not only take comfort but derive a strength which will give 
us a creditable place in the educational activities of the Nation. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE) SCHOOL LAWS. 

The following amendments to the school laws have been made 
during the past ten years. Many of them have vindicated their 
usefulness and a few have not received this distinction. Some 
of the more important changes are as follows : 

The school committee is limited to three members. 

Towns are required to furnish text-books for all public 
schools, including common and high schools. Parents are 
authorized to purchase books for the exclusive use of their 
children, if they prefer to do so. 

Provision has been made for the schooling of children in 
unorganized townships. 

The educational department has been authorized to examine 
and certificate teachers, said certificates to be accepted in lieu 
of a personal examination given by local school officials. 

Towns must pay for books, apparatus, supplies, repairs, insur- 
ance, improvements on grounds, et cetera, from moneys raised 
for these purposes and not from common or high school funds. 

Academies, institutes and seminaries, receiving State aid, must 
maintain standard courses :)f study; they must be in session at 
least thirty weeks each year ; they must have an average attend- 
ance of not less than thirty pupils and an attendance from towns 
other than those in which they are located of at least ten pupils 
and must not have an income to exceed $i,6oo per year. 

Schools failing to maintain an average attendance of at least 
eight pupils are discontinued unless the town at the annual 
meeting, on the written recommendation of the committee, votes 
to maintain said schools. 

Provision has been made for the union of towns for the 
employment of a superintendent of schools whose term of office 
shall not exceed five years. The minimum and maximum num- 
ber of schools included in any union are specified, as are the 
minimum salary and maximum amount to be paid by the State. 

Candidates for admission to free high schools must be exam- 
ined before they are entitled to enter said schools. 

School committees are authorized to fill vacancies in their 
membership until the next annual election and also to fill 
vacancies in the office of truant officer. 

Conveyance for pupils must be provided by the superintendent 
of schools when, in the judgment of the school committee. 



transportation is necessary. Committees are allowed to pay the 
board of pupils when it is found inexpedient to furnish trans- 
portation. A paragraph provides that transportation may be 
furnished for the whole or a part of the distance, as authorized 
by the committee.. , 

The superintendent is elected by the committee, but he cannot 
be a member of the board. This official has been authorized to 
examine, certificate and employ teachers, said employment being- 
subject to the approval of the committee. 

The Governor and Council have been instructed to withhold 
State school funds from delinquent towns and from all towns in 
which the school moneys are not expended for the maintenance 
of schools established and controlled by said towns and which, in 
any other way, fail to comply with the laws relating to schools. 

Every child between the seventh and fifteenth anniversaries 
of his birth must attend school for the full time for which the 
schools are in session in the towns in which he resides, provided 
he is not mentally or physically incapacitated for such attend- 
ance, or provided he does not receive equivalent schooling in 
some manner approved by the superintending school committee. 

Provision has been made for the schooling of blind children 
at South Boston. 

All free public schools established by gifts or bequests are 
placed under the control of the State Superintendent of Public 
Schools, who is also required to perform all duties imposed on 
him by the charters granted by the legislature to educational 
institutions. 

Legal school holidays are enumerated and established. 

The free high school year ends with July 1st and the half year 
with December 31st. 

Detailed provision is made for the location of school lots and 
the right of aggrieved parties to appeal to county commissioners 
within six months is granted. 

Power is given for the establishment of manual training- 
schools by towns and cities. 

The Industrial School for Girls has been accepted by the State 
as has also the school for deaf mutes at Portland. 

Towns must fence school lots under certain conditions. 

Towns not accounting for interest on permanent school funds 
must raise $45 in addition to all other sums required by law. 



lO 



One-half of the taxes on trust and banking companies is 
apportioned and distributed as a school fund. 

The Aroostook State Normal School has been established at 
Presque Isle. 

Unexpended balances of school funds must be brought for- 
ward and credited to resources in the following year. 

Towns must expend the entire amount of common school 
funds during the year for which it is appropriated, for wages 
and board of teachers, fuel, janitor services, conveyance, tuition 
and board of pupils and must make special provision for all 
other school expenses. 

Duties of superintendent of schools and school committee 
have been defined, together with the returns to be made by the 
superintendent. 

Provision is made for the payment by the towns, of the tuition 
of pupils who reside in municipalities in which secondary schools 
of standard grade are not maintained ; one-half of said tuition 
to be reimbursed to the town by the State, under certain 
restrictions. 

Towns may contract with adjoining towns for the schooling 
of pupils in secondary schools. 

School committees, with an equal number from the board of 
trustees, shall form a joint committee for the selection of 
teachers and the arranging of the course of study in academies 
receiving State aid, when such academies have an endowment 
of less than $10,000. 

PER CONTRA. 

While the foregoing statements are made with care and are 
intended as a record of facts, yet it must not be assumed that 
our school conditions are ideal ; that sacrifices are not needed ; 
that improvements are not necessary and that progress is not our 
watchword. Most lamentable details mar our record and dis- 
grace our school system. To these we must address ourselves 
and, unless they can be re-placed by better results, our work 
must be counted, at least, a partial failure. 

FUNDS. 

Some towns are content to house their children in buildings 
unfit for the use of human beings and are unwilling to furnish 
books and apparatus necessary for the efficient administration 



II 



of the schools. These communities will not tax themselves to 
such an extent as makes possible the employment of teachers 
who can conduct schools of worth. 

inte;re;st and work. 

In this class of towns there is a scant interest in the school. 
Little is done for it by the individual citizen except to criticize 
the teachers, discourage the children, complain of taxes and 
recite the legend that, " what was good enough for me is good 
enough for my children." The indifference and hostility mani- 
fested in these communities are beyond statement and hardly 
within the comprehension of one not familiar with the facts. 

While these strictures apply to a small minority, yet they are 
true of a number too large for the safety of the State. 

Changes can only be wrought through the interest and activity 
of local citizens who are willing to spend the time necessary to 
learn the facts and develop in their neighbors a desire for a 
better school. What these communities need more than any- 
thing else is a live Improvement League in which all the citizens 
hold membership. 

TKACHERS. 

We have too many teachers who belong in the inefficient class. 
They are lacking in scholastic attainments, professional training, 
aptness to teach and personality. Some of them are relatives 
of school officials or of influential citizens and others are 
employed because of the indifference of these officers to the 
value of a good school and therefore they will not make the 
effort necessary to provide suitable instructors. 

About one-sixth of the teaching force are failures for some of 
the reasons indicated above. These incompetents should be 
replaced by teachers who have a reasonable equipment for the 
work and until this is done these schools cannot be improved. 

PUPILS. 
Our greatest misfeasance in the care of children is found in 
the kind of food we provide for them. No child can attain to 
his best estate physically, morally or intellectually who is 
allowed to drink tea or coffee, or eat any considerable quantity 
of confectionery and pastry, or partake of highly seasoned 



12 

foods. The number of children who do all these things is so 
large as to seem incredible. 

This is the age that will be charged with producing the victims 
of patent medicines. Scientific research has made it clear that 
many of these concoctions are highly injurious. People holding 
respectable positions have been adjudged victims of alcoholism 
because of the use they have made of these compounds. Is this 
great army recruited from the ranks of the children who drink 
tea and cofifee, eat confectionery and pastry and live exciting 
and demoralizing lives? 

People need no longer wonder that the use of tobacco and 
stimulants is increasing so long as they foster the conditions 
which must inevitably bring these results. 

What right have we to expect a child whose breakfast con- 
sists of coffee strong enough to make a veteran wince and fat- 
laden doughnuts, to do his work in school or grow into a worthy 
citizen? Upon the home rests the responsibility of making 
needed changes in these particulars. 

Many children are injured by being clothed in apparel which 
develops vanity in the wearer and envy in his companion. 
These children are also harmed by the social functions in which 
they are permitted to participate and at which they make exhi- 
bitions of themselves as inartistic as they are harmful. 

When we recall the surroundings that mar and the influences 
that make some of the children, should we be surprised that they 
are slow in learning the wisdom of the Carlylian philosophy? 
This wise Scotchman has told us that the fraction of life can be 
increased in value not so much by increasing the numerator as 
by lessening the denominator. 

The pampering and coddling the children receive in the form 
of mistaken kindnesses are doing them serious injury. A child 
who has not learned to obey cheerfully has missed the greatest 
blessing made possible by the home or the school. Their next 
greatest service is to develop in him a love for and a habit of 
work. Unless the child delights in conquering difficulties 
through his own efforts and mastering the tasks assigned him, . 
his home and school have done him but little good and may have 
done him much harm. 

Emerson has told us we deprive our children of the chance to 
succeed by making it unnecessary for them to work and shield- 
ing them from responsibilities. 



13 

The spirit of insolence, the attitude or arrogance, the wilUng- 
ness to evade tasks, the disposition to resent authority and the 
desire to be prominent on public occasions and to wear striking 
apparel are portents of future possibilities that should not only 
give us anxiety but will bring us trouble. 

SCHOOI, OFFICIAI.S. 

In some municipalities school officials are elected after most 
of the voters have left the town meeting. Many times the 
selection is made without any thought of the fitness of the candi- 
date for the office. In such cases the person chosen has some 
selfish interest to serve and therefore accepts the position. 

Superintendents are selected who truckle to the board. When 
such conditions exist the schools are the football of men who 
have too little conscience to be in charge of public interests. As 
a result incapable teachers are employed and the school is so 
worthless that it is worse than none. That such things should 
not be admits of no discussion ; that they exist is beyond ques- 
tion. The remedy is in the hands of the people and they are 
responsible for inaugurating reforms. 

England's first great teacher makes record of the fact that we 
are more willing to spend money and effort on the training of a 
colt than on the care and nurture of the child and, as a result, 
our colts are gentle and serviceable and our children are untamed 
and unsafe members of society. 

These failures in our management and training of children 
account for the existence of a demand for physical ease and 
enjoyment to the extent of killing ambition and paralyzing 
eflfort. 

BY the; way. 

While there are many things to commend, much in which to 
rejoice and a future of great promise, still there are not a few 
items that should give us concern. Public opinion should be 
more active and intelligent ; school officials need to give more 
thought to the details of their duties and be governed by a 
higher moral sense in their service ; teachers must more nearly 
resemble the artist; pupils must receive better nurture in the 
home and more intelligent training in the school. We must 
put our chought and effort into strengthening our strong points 
and correcting our mistakes. 



14 

There is a danger signal in the statement of employers that 
young people are disposed to make the least return possible for 
the money paid for a service. Many fail of advancement 
because they refuse to study the interest of those for whom they 
work and limit their efforts to the task assigned them. They 
not only have to be told what to do and how to do it, but they 
have to be watched and supervised in their work and, instead of 
striving to find better ways of doing a given thing, they shirk 
responsibilities and leave behind all thought of duties when they 
close the front door to their places of labor. 

There is a demand for young men and women who are 
anxious to prove themselves fitted for better places than the 
ones they are trying to fill. The youth who will study his task, 
the ways of doing it, the possibilities of making improvements 
and who is willing to give extra effort or added time under 
special conditions, is sought for and will be promoted as rapidly 
as his merits warrant. The call is for those who study, think,^ 
are in earnest and eager to be found worthy. 

The business man is looking for the boy who is tidy in his 
apparel and clean in his habits and who is not afraid of hard 
work and over-alls. He wants a lad who can spell and write 
acceptably and who is familiar with the fundamental processes 
in arithmetic and accurate in the use of figures. 

He has scant confidence in the young man who is not trying 
to prepare himself to do something and who instead trusts to 
luck for something to do and ability to do it. He wants him to 
have discernment enough to discover that money is not the only 
reward given for faithful service. He must be controlled by 
the determination to make a success of what he undertakes and 
not be content with what he is doing until he can do it better 
than any one else of equal capacity. 

He seeks the boy who knows the joy which comes from doing 
his best every time and he has no use for the one who is more 
ambitious to follow than to lead. If he is willing to depend on 
his parents for a lift, or relatives for a boost, he will not fill the 
bill. 

It is a hard lesson for young people to learn that, if they never 
do more than they are paid for, they will never be paid for more 
than they are doing. 



15 

Unless pupils learn to work and play as comrades, unless they 
are sensitive about the rights of others and the duties they owe 
their associates ; unless they can live helpfully in their school, 
social and semi-business relations while students, there is slight 
prospect of their being able to do these things when they come 
to years of maturity. 

If necessary, the school should do less text-book work and 
devote more time to developing in the children those qualities 
which will make them safe citizens. It is a part of the work of 
the teacher to help the children to abhor evil and love the good. 
The child who knows the value of economy and the necessity of 
thrift, who is honest in his thought and dealings with his fellows, 
will add his contribution to the moral and material worth of 
the community. 

The school is responsible for doing all it can to persuade boys 
not to smoke cigarettes. The school cannot do this work alone. 
The home must come to a realizing sense of the extent and 
danger of this evil and join with the school in bringing about 
needed changes. 

This habit is on the increase. A larger proportion of the boys 
are indulging in this practice than even thoughtful people realize. 
It would be startling if the facts were put in figures. There 
is no disposition to discuss the effect of the use of tobacco upon 
adults. All sane people know that its use is a serious and, in 
most cases, a fatal injury to persons who have not reached their 
physical maturity. This proposition does not admit of discus- 
sion. The facts are beyond question. The necessity for action 
is urgent. The question is a pertinent one. What do we pro- 
pose to do about it? 

FACTS AND FIGURE;s. 

An investigation made by the judge of a Juvenile Court and 
extending through several months shows the following com- 
parative record of smokers and non-smokers (20 each) taken at 
random from a school of 500 pupils. The figures in the first 
column deal with twenty smokers and those in the second with 
twenty non-smokers. 



i6 

Non- 
Smokers. Smokers. 

Nervous 14 i 

Poor memory 12 i 

Bad manners 16 2 

Impaired hearing 13 i 

Low deportment 18 I 

Poor physical condition. 12 2 

Bad moral condition 14 O 

Bad mental condition 18 i 

Street loafers 16 o 

Out nights 15 o 

Careless in dress 12 4 

Truants 10 o 

Low rank in studies 18 3 

Older than average of grade 19 2 

Untruthful 9 o 

Slow thinkers 19 3 

Poor workers or not able to work continuously. 17 I 

Failed of promotion 17 2 

TRUANTS. 

There are supposed to be at least 525 truant officers in the 
State. It is the duty of these officials, as well as of the super- 
intendent, school committees and teachers, to see that all chil- 
dren between seven and fifteen years of age who are not receiv- 
ing equivalent instruction in other schools, or are not physically 
or mentally incapacitated for attending schools, attend the 
schools in the towns in which they reside for the full time for 
which said schools are in session. 

The returns made under oath reveal the appalling fact that 
there were last year 4,342 boys and 3,165 girls between seven 
and fifteen years of age and not included in the above exempted 
classes, who were not in attendance upon any school. These 
.figures are as startling as they are distressing. They mean that 
we have a scattered population large enough to make a com- 
munity greater than that of our first city, with no child between 
seven and fifteen years of age in any school. Unless those who 
are responsible for the enforcement of this law are more faithful 
in the performance of their duties the legislature should make 
such amendments to the statutes as will prevent the continuance 
•of this most lamentable condition. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



019 876 176 A 




